Hardide Coatings, innovator in advanced surface coating technology, has developed a revolutionary alternative to toxic hard-chrome plating (HCP) which will soon be restricted or banned.

Hardide-A meets strict new EU and U.S. environmental standards and provides comparable wear, corrosion, hardness, surface finish and substrate bonding properties to HCP. Unlike most HCP alternatives, Hardide-A is also suitable for internal surfaces and complex shapes, the compay reported

HCP has been a mainstay of industrial coating in aerospace, heavy equipment, automotive and various other industries for many years. However, the hexavalent chrome salts used to produce HCP pose extreme health and environmental hazards.

The safeguarding EU and U.S. regulations mean chrome plating is incurring rising costs, extensive regulation and onerous paperwork. Under EU REACH, HCP use will be severely restricted and could be banned. A search has been led by the aerospace industry to find suitable alternatives.

Hardide-A matches the standard thickness (50-100 microns) and hardness (800-1200 Hv) of HCP, simplifying the transition without need for dimensional changes or drawing re-design. HCP's intrinsic performance limitations hinder its more demanding wear applications and Hardide-A outperforms it in several key areas. This includes enhanced protection against corrosion, wear and chemically aggressive media, enhanced fatigue life and a non-porous structure.

A number of other alternatives to HCP are available including thermal spray, in particular high-velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) and emerging processes such as electroless nickel composite plating, explosive bonding, electrodeposited nanocrystalline cobalt-phosphorus alloys and physical vapor deposition (PVD) coatings. To date, HVOF and other spray coatings have been considered the best available alternative to HCP. However, Hardide-A provides several advantages over HVOF such as versatile geometric compatibility, corrosion and fatigue resistance and facilitated finishing.